The present invention relates to cases for storing, transporting and merchandising containers and more particularly one liter through two liter, glass and PET bottles.
It has been the practice in the packaging industry in the past to individually design a case or box for a particular use and the divider to be used in that box. Such cases or boxes are thus designed to hold one container or product and do not ordinarily lend themselves to the effective packaging of several different size containers. This results in a variety of cases or boxes being produced of differing sizes and dimensions. While the prior art systems have the advantage of being designed specifically for a particular container size and thus avoiding the problem of a make-shift case or box, they are expensive since they require separate designs for each use or container. Also, if various types of containers are to be shipped in the same storage chamber of a transport vehicle, the cases or boxes may not be of uniform exterior dimensions and may not stack compactly. The lack of uniformity can waste space in the storage chamber of the transport vehicle.
Additionally, manufacturers may desire to switch from shipping their material from one size container to another based on a number of factors such as consumer preference, shipping cost, convenience or regulation. Thus, it is necessary to provide flexibility in the packaging system used for storing and transporting the containers in which the goods are stored.
Particularly, in the soft drink industry a bottler may learn that consumers desire containers of one particular size over another or that shipping costs are increasing rapidly thus necessitating a switch to lighter weight plastic bottles despite consumer demand for glass bottles. Such changeovers must occur rapidly since consumer preferences and shipping costs can change rapidly.
Furthermore, the cost of the packaging system may be great for the individual bottler and therefore he may not desire to switch to another packaging system even though consumer demands or regulations have changed. Thus, the bottler is in a difficult situation and may have to discard sturdy, reusable shipping cases that are in good condition or else not be able to make sales. It is necessary therefore to provide a flexible packaging system which allows a bottler to ship containers of various diameters within the same packaging system without significantly increasing packaging costs. Increased packaging cost can occur due to assembling the individual cases, including assembling the boxes or cases with or without a separate divider. Further, the packaging system should efficiently use the space within each case or box, while allowing the flexibility of use with containers of differing diameters.
Returnable bottles, PET or glass, require cases with dividers to prevent the bottles from rubbing against one another during shipment and thereby being damaged. Nonreturnable bottles do not necessarily require these dividers because the amount of damage in just one trip would not be notoiceable to the consumer.